Broken Chart
- Thread starter sadchild
- Start date
Here's another beef with the Hot 100 these days.
This week there is ONE new entry on the chart. The other 99 songs are the same ones from last week. So basically, everyone kept playing their same playlists over and over all day long.
The prior week there were 33 new entries... but 31 of them were from two artists that released a new album that week. Was radio spinning all 31 songs from those two albums? No way! The Hot 100 used to show what the general public was exposed to by media outlets that had money on the line (like thousands of dollars of expenses every week to broadcast songs), not document what was on people's turntables and in their cassette players/CD players. And it was also based on what people took money out of the their pockets and spent it on something like a record, cassette, CD or MP3.
This week there is ONE new entry on the chart. The other 99 songs are the same ones from last week. So basically, everyone kept playing their same playlists over and over all day long.
The prior week there were 33 new entries... but 31 of them were from two artists that released a new album that week. Was radio spinning all 31 songs from those two albums? No way! The Hot 100 used to show what the general public was exposed to by media outlets that had money on the line (like thousands of dollars of expenses every week to broadcast songs), not document what was on people's turntables and in their cassette players/CD players. And it was also based on what people took money out of the their pockets and spent it on something like a record, cassette, CD or MP3.
In the 70s, there were a thousand artists who potentially could've released a single that got enough radio airplay and sales to make the chart. Now, that number is like a dozen.
But here's my question (I'm sure it's been answered already): when we do a madness of (say) two-hit artists, there was a rule that the songs had to be released as singles to qualify. So when U2 released Achtung Baby, I had the album immediately. But the singles were released, sold, and aired one-at-a-time. That's why U2 didn't have 10 songs on the chart at the same time.
So now, how can they release 15 singles all at once?
Billboard changed a rule to allow songs that had not been released as physical singles to chart on the Hot 100, paving the way for songs heavily promoted on radio (even if they weren't available for purchase as a single) and album cuts to chart. The new rule went into effect on December 5, 1998.
This is why Natalie Imbruglia's 'hit' song "Torn" never made the top 40. It was #1 on the Airplay chart for 11 weeks but was dying down by December and debuted at #47. If the rule had been put into effect six months earlier, "Torn" probably would have hit #1 on the Hot 100 too.
Then this happened February 2013, which KILLED the chart....
The Billboard Hot 100 undergoes a major shakeup this week, as YouTube streaming data joins the chart's methodology. Fittingly, "Harlem Shake," the viral smash from Brooklyn producer Baauer, roars onto the ranking at No. 1.
As announced today, Billboard and Nielsen have revealed that U.S. YouTube video streaming data has been added to multiple platforms, which includes an update to the formula for the five-decade-old Hot 100. YouTube streaming data is now factored into the chart, enhancing a recipe that includes digital download track sales (and physical singles sales), as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, as well as terrestrial radio airplay, on-demand audio streaming, and online radio streaming, as tracked by Nielsen.
As "Shake" takes over atop the Hot 100 (and Dance/Electronic Songs, where it leaps from No. 12), it dethrones Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," featuring Wanz, after a four-week reign. Showing just how strong "Shake" is in streaming, "Shop" registered an impressive 10.1 million streams in the chart's tracking week (dipping 1-2 on Streaming Songs), but the figure is clearly exponentially lower than the 103 million for "Shake." "Shake," in fact, leads the Hot 100 with three-and-a-half times the overall chart points total of "Shop."
So now ever time Taylor/Drake/Kendrick release an album, every song from it debuts in the top 40 based on streaming.
This is why Natalie Imbruglia's 'hit' song "Torn" never made the top 40. It was #1 on the Airplay chart for 11 weeks but was dying down by December and debuted at #47. If the rule had been put into effect six months earlier, "Torn" probably would have hit #1 on the Hot 100 too.
Then this happened February 2013, which KILLED the chart....
The Billboard Hot 100 undergoes a major shakeup this week, as YouTube streaming data joins the chart's methodology. Fittingly, "Harlem Shake," the viral smash from Brooklyn producer Baauer, roars onto the ranking at No. 1.
As announced today, Billboard and Nielsen have revealed that U.S. YouTube video streaming data has been added to multiple platforms, which includes an update to the formula for the five-decade-old Hot 100. YouTube streaming data is now factored into the chart, enhancing a recipe that includes digital download track sales (and physical singles sales), as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, as well as terrestrial radio airplay, on-demand audio streaming, and online radio streaming, as tracked by Nielsen.
As "Shake" takes over atop the Hot 100 (and Dance/Electronic Songs, where it leaps from No. 12), it dethrones Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," featuring Wanz, after a four-week reign. Showing just how strong "Shake" is in streaming, "Shop" registered an impressive 10.1 million streams in the chart's tracking week (dipping 1-2 on Streaming Songs), but the figure is clearly exponentially lower than the 103 million for "Shake." "Shake," in fact, leads the Hot 100 with three-and-a-half times the overall chart points total of "Shop."
So now ever time Taylor/Drake/Kendrick release an album, every song from it debuts in the top 40 based on streaming.
Here is the list of the 100 most-viewed YouTube videos. Baby Shark has been viewed 15 billion times. That is almost double the current world population of 8.201 billion.
^^That song was a top 40 hit in 2019, three years after it originally came out. Just because a bunch of baby-brained adults started streaming it a zillion times. BROKEN CHART
Another viral dance challenge has sparked a placement on the Billboard Hot 100, as Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” debuts at No. 32 on the list dated Jan. 12.
Another viral dance challenge has sparked a placement on the Billboard Hot 100, as Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” debuts at No. 32 on the list dated Jan. 12.
On the 12/5/1998 Hot 100 there were 78 new entries on the chart. SEVENTY-EIGHT!!
Why?
That's when they made it so songs that were previously ineligible for the Hot 100 (but were fine for the Airplay Chart) were suddenly eligible.
Why?
That's when they made it so songs that were previously ineligible for the Hot 100 (but were fine for the Airplay Chart) were suddenly eligible.
Actually, there were only ten new entries on the December 5 1998 Hot 100. The highest debut was *NSYNC's God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You at #60. The Hot 100 linked in the above post was not published. It shows 78 debuts but 68 of those songs were not new to the Hot 100. They were shown as "new" only because the chart with the different methodology was new and was being released for the first time.
For several weeks in 1998, Billboard compiled a Hot 100 including retail sales and airplay-only songs. These were considered "test charts" and were not published. The first published chart that included airplay only – December 5, 1998 – was accompanied by this explanation: "If a single was already on the Hot 100 before the inclusion of airplay-only titles, the chart histories for those singles will will be linked to their performances on the published charts, even though ranks of those titles may be dramatically different from last issue's. The 'weeks on' column for radio-only tracks refects thge number of weeks that song has appeared on the new formula's test charts. Titles that are new to the published Hot 100 that were already appearing on the test charts will not show up as new entries."
For several weeks in 1998, Billboard compiled a Hot 100 including retail sales and airplay-only songs. These were considered "test charts" and were not published. The first published chart that included airplay only – December 5, 1998 – was accompanied by this explanation: "If a single was already on the Hot 100 before the inclusion of airplay-only titles, the chart histories for those singles will will be linked to their performances on the published charts, even though ranks of those titles may be dramatically different from last issue's. The 'weeks on' column for radio-only tracks refects thge number of weeks that song has appeared on the new formula's test charts. Titles that are new to the published Hot 100 that were already appearing on the test charts will not show up as new entries."
Still looks like 78 debuts/new entries to me. If they didn't publish it, it don't count!
On those unpublished charts, I wonder how many weeks "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls was at #1 on the Hot 100, seeing it was #1 on the Airplay chart for 18 weeks starting in August (with the exception of one week). It got gipped (like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruggialgilagaga) and "debuted" at #9 on 12/5/98 then sank down the chart.
On those unpublished charts, I wonder how many weeks "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls was at #1 on the Hot 100, seeing it was #1 on the Airplay chart for 18 weeks starting in August (with the exception of one week). It got gipped (like "Torn" by Natalie Imbruggialgilagaga) and "debuted" at #9 on 12/5/98 then sank down the chart.
Is she that expert on circadian rhythms?
Iris went to number one on the Hot 100 "test chart" for the week ending August 29, 1998, knocking Brandy & Monica's The Boy Is Mine to #2. If airplay-only songs had been allowed to chart since the beginning of the year, that would have been Iris's 18th week on the Hot 100.
I'm having this same feeling after looking at the latest chart for American Country Countdown, which is amazingly still on there. Of all the artists in the Top 40, I've heard OF maybe 3, and one only because he was caught on camera drunkenly uttering the word that rhymes with Wigger. But have heard exactly 3, 2 of which whose music I actually like since they're leaning more alt-country/americana nowadays, but those are few and far between. Proof positive I'm getting old!
Complaining about the Hot 100 being broken is nothing new. Here's an excerpt from a 1988 LA Times article
Just how many records do you have to sell to go No. 1 in Billboard magazine?
Ask Tone Loc. The local rapper’s raucous hit, “Wild Thing,” sold 2.5 million copies, making it the best-selling single since “We Are the World.” (It’s also the cheapest mega-platinum single in years--it cost $500 to make.)
But despite easily outselling its chart rivals--some weeks by nearly 3-to-1--”Wild Thing” never made it past No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
This odd milestone has caused a mini-uproar in the record industry. The loudest complaints have come from the Loc people, who are now publicly criticizing the respected industry trade publication’s formula for determining its singles chart rankings.
“When you sell 2.5 million singles--more records, times two, than any single in years--how can you not call that a No. 1 record?” said Marty Schwartz, Loc’s manager and an Island Pictures consultant who helped bring Loc’s label, Delicious Vinyl, to Island Records. “We were beating our heads against the wall--I’ve gotten calls from people everywhere who can’t believe we didn’t make it.”
Schwartz’s complaint focuses on Billboard’s chart methodology. Unlike the magazine’s album charts, which are based solely on sales figures, the Hot 100 rankings are determined by a combination of record-store sales rankings and airplay reports from 240 pop stations.
According to Billboard chart director Michael Ellis, 40 to 50 stations--nearly 1/6 of all reporting radio outlets--never played “Wild Thing,” either because the program directors dislike rap music or found the song sexually suggestive. The song also suffered because Billboard’s reporting record stores only tally sales rankings, not actual sales figures. So while “Wild Thing” may have clearly outsold its rivals, its sales ranking didn’t necessarily reflect the width of the margin.
Schwartz says Billboard needs to update its system. “I have nothing against the chart guys, who’ve been very understanding,” he said. “But ‘Wild Thing’ was a genuine pop phenomenon--and the system just didn’t reflect the buying choices of a new generation of pop fans. If Billboard’s reporting stations won’t play such an enormous hit, then maybe Billboard shouldn’t be using them as indicators of what makes a No. 1 single.”
Ellis responded: “I don’t feel we’re off base. Our charts simply showed we had an outstanding selling record that wasn’t as widespread a radio hit as other songs it competed against. Call it a matter of regional differences in musical tastes or whatever, but the single simply didn’t get played in a lot of Midwest and Bible Belt areas. Maybe some radio programmers are being stubborn or prejudiced. But our job isn’t to tell them what to play. We just report on the tastes of the marketplace.”
Ellis did acknowledge that it was “unusual” for a song with such phenomenal sales to stop short of No. 1. “I would call it an aberration--an odd occurrence. But it isn’t unprecedented. George Michael’s ‘I Want Your Sex’ was a huge seller--and never went No. 1 either. A lot of stations in the South never played it. Listen, we have stations that won’t play Barbra Streisand records. That doesn’t mean they’re bad reporting outlets.”
Just how many records do you have to sell to go No. 1 in Billboard magazine?
Ask Tone Loc. The local rapper’s raucous hit, “Wild Thing,” sold 2.5 million copies, making it the best-selling single since “We Are the World.” (It’s also the cheapest mega-platinum single in years--it cost $500 to make.)
But despite easily outselling its chart rivals--some weeks by nearly 3-to-1--”Wild Thing” never made it past No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
This odd milestone has caused a mini-uproar in the record industry. The loudest complaints have come from the Loc people, who are now publicly criticizing the respected industry trade publication’s formula for determining its singles chart rankings.
“When you sell 2.5 million singles--more records, times two, than any single in years--how can you not call that a No. 1 record?” said Marty Schwartz, Loc’s manager and an Island Pictures consultant who helped bring Loc’s label, Delicious Vinyl, to Island Records. “We were beating our heads against the wall--I’ve gotten calls from people everywhere who can’t believe we didn’t make it.”
Schwartz’s complaint focuses on Billboard’s chart methodology. Unlike the magazine’s album charts, which are based solely on sales figures, the Hot 100 rankings are determined by a combination of record-store sales rankings and airplay reports from 240 pop stations.
According to Billboard chart director Michael Ellis, 40 to 50 stations--nearly 1/6 of all reporting radio outlets--never played “Wild Thing,” either because the program directors dislike rap music or found the song sexually suggestive. The song also suffered because Billboard’s reporting record stores only tally sales rankings, not actual sales figures. So while “Wild Thing” may have clearly outsold its rivals, its sales ranking didn’t necessarily reflect the width of the margin.
Schwartz says Billboard needs to update its system. “I have nothing against the chart guys, who’ve been very understanding,” he said. “But ‘Wild Thing’ was a genuine pop phenomenon--and the system just didn’t reflect the buying choices of a new generation of pop fans. If Billboard’s reporting stations won’t play such an enormous hit, then maybe Billboard shouldn’t be using them as indicators of what makes a No. 1 single.”
Ellis responded: “I don’t feel we’re off base. Our charts simply showed we had an outstanding selling record that wasn’t as widespread a radio hit as other songs it competed against. Call it a matter of regional differences in musical tastes or whatever, but the single simply didn’t get played in a lot of Midwest and Bible Belt areas. Maybe some radio programmers are being stubborn or prejudiced. But our job isn’t to tell them what to play. We just report on the tastes of the marketplace.”
Ellis did acknowledge that it was “unusual” for a song with such phenomenal sales to stop short of No. 1. “I would call it an aberration--an odd occurrence. But it isn’t unprecedented. George Michael’s ‘I Want Your Sex’ was a huge seller--and never went No. 1 either. A lot of stations in the South never played it. Listen, we have stations that won’t play Barbra Streisand records. That doesn’t mean they’re bad reporting outlets.”
In June 1975, Elton John's Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy became the first album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. In November 1975, Elton John's Rock Of The Westies became the second album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
Eight hundred seventy-two albums have debuted at number one. Eight-hundred sixty-seven of those have been since 1991. The years with the most albums debuting at number one are 2006 (38), 2013 (38), 2015 (37), 2018 (37), 2019 (37) and 2017 (36). Beyoncé's first eight albums debuted at number one. Justin Bieber's first six albums debuted at number one. The Stray Kids' first six albums debuted at number one. DMX's first five albums debuted at number one.
This week, I'm The Problem becomes Morgan Wallen's third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, after Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021 and One Thing At A Time in 2023.
Here is Billboard's explanation of how the chart is compiled: "The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album."
Well, that is certainly easy to understand.
Eight hundred seventy-two albums have debuted at number one. Eight-hundred sixty-seven of those have been since 1991. The years with the most albums debuting at number one are 2006 (38), 2013 (38), 2015 (37), 2018 (37), 2019 (37) and 2017 (36). Beyoncé's first eight albums debuted at number one. Justin Bieber's first six albums debuted at number one. The Stray Kids' first six albums debuted at number one. DMX's first five albums debuted at number one.
This week, I'm The Problem becomes Morgan Wallen's third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, after Dangerous: The Double Album in 2021 and One Thing At A Time in 2023.
Here is Billboard's explanation of how the chart is compiled: "The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album."
Well, that is certainly easy to understand.
Teddy Swims "Lose Control" entered the Hot 100 in 2023. It's currently at #9, same spot as last week. This makes a record-breaking 96 weeks on the Hot 100.
Every song that's been on the chart for 70+ weeks came out 2008 or later.
If we were tracking what people were playing on their record players, 8-tracks, cassette players and CD players in the 80s, every track on Thriller would hold the record with 250+ weeks. Because even five years later, that album was still EVERYWHERE. I remember in 1987, someone's six year old was listening to it all the time and singing along to it. They were ONE when it came out.
It's NOT the same chart!
Every song that's been on the chart for 70+ weeks came out 2008 or later.
If we were tracking what people were playing on their record players, 8-tracks, cassette players and CD players in the 80s, every track on Thriller would hold the record with 250+ weeks. Because even five years later, that album was still EVERYWHERE. I remember in 1987, someone's six year old was listening to it all the time and singing along to it. They were ONE when it came out.
It's NOT the same chart!
I've heard the name. I might have listen to 20 seconds of it a year or so ago and probably went "this sucks" and moved on.
They play him on The Spectrum (and every other AC station) several times a day. This is probably his newest song. Played 77 times in 60 days (38 times in 30 days). But of course, there are many songs of his they play.
